Pros & Cons
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- Dual independent outlets
- Voice control
- Supports IFTTT applets
- Reasonably priced
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- No power usage reporting
- Lacks HomeKit support
Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug (KP400) Specs
| Amazon Alexa | |
| Apple HomeKit | |
| Apple Siri | |
| Energy Reporting | |
| Google Assistant | |
| IFTTT | |
| Size | 2.2 by 4.9 by 2.3 inches |
Outdoor smart plugs are ideal for turning things like pool pumps and patio lights into smart home devices that you can control with your phone. With the $29.99 Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug KP400, you can control two devices independently of each other using your phone or through Alexa and Google voice commands. It’s easy to install and will interact with other smart devices, and at just under $30, it’s the most affordable outdoor smart plug we’ve seen to date. It doesn’t offer power usage reports, but it’s still good enough to earn our Editors’ Choice for outdoor smart plugs.
Design and Features
The KP400 is a dual-outlet smart plug with an IP64 weather-resistant rating that protects against dust and water. It uses a black enclosure that measures 2.2 by 4.9 by 2.3 inches (HWD) and has an 8-inch cord with a three-prong plug. Both of the outlets are three-prong receptacles and have rubber gaskets to protect them from the elements. The front of the plug has backlit power switches for each outlet and a Wi-Fi indicator LED. Under the hood is a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio.
The plug works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands, and with other smart devices using IFTTT applets, but it doesn't support Apple HomeKit, nor does it offer the power usage reports that you get with the iDevices Outdoor Switch, but it does give you daily, weekly, and monthly runtime reports. It uses the same Kasa smart mobile app that is used to control other Kasa devices including the Kasa Cam Outdoor KC200 camera, the Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini, and the Kasa Smart Bulb KL50. The app opens to a Devices screen where you’ll see a list of all installed Kasa devices grouped by category. Each of the two KP400 outlets has its own tab containing the name of the outlet and a power button.
When you tap an outlet tab, it takes you to a screen with a large on/off button that is green when the outlet is powered up and gray when it is off. At the bottom of this screen are Schedule, Timer, Away, and Runtime buttons. You can use the Schedule button to have each outlet turn on and off at specific times of the day and on specific days of the week, and the Timer button allows you to turn the outlets on or off after a countdown timer expires. The Away button lets you program an Away mode that will randomly turn the outlets on and off to give the appearance that somebody is home while you’re away, and the Runtime button lets you see how many hours the outlets have been in use on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Back at the Devices screen, there’s a Scenes button that lets you create action buttons that will turn the outlets and other Kasa smart devices on and off with a single touch. The Smart Monitoring button opens a screen where you can create automations to run Scenes automatically on a schedule, and have other Kasa devices trigger the outlets.
Installation and Performance
Installing the KP400 plug was quick and easy in testing. I already had a Kasa Smart account from a previous review, but if this is your first TP-Link Kasa device, you’ll have to download the mobile app and create an account. To start, I tapped the plus icon in the upper right corner of the Devices screen and selected the KP400 from the list of smart plugs. Following the on-screen instructions, I plugged the KP400 into an outlet and waited a few seconds for the Wi-Fi LED to start blinking. I tapped Next and connected my phone to the plug using my phone’s Wi-Fi settings. I selected my Wi-Fi SSID, entered my password, and after 20 seconds or so the plug was added to my network and was automatically added to my Alexa device list. I gave each outlet a name and the installation was complete.
The KP400 plug worked flawlessly in testing. It responded instantly to on and off commands using the mobile app and Alexa voice commands. I set individual on/off schedules for each plug, and they followed the schedules to a tee. I also created a scene to have the plugs turn off at the same time as a TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Power Strip HS300, and it worked without a hitch.
Conclusions
The Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug KP400 is an excellent choice for anyone looking to smarten up their outdoor appliances. It’s very easy to install and manage using the Kasa smart mobile app, and it offers dual outlets that can be controlled independently of one another using your phone or your voice. It also works with other smart devices using IFTTT applets. It doesn’t offer power usage reports, but neither does the D-Link mydlink Outdoor Wi-Fi Smart Plug DSP-W320. In fact, the KP400 does everything the DSP-W320 does and it’s $20 less. That makes it our new Editors’ Choice for outdoor smart plugs.